Abdul Qadir Jelani
Encyclopedia
Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir Amoli al-Gilani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini , (also spelled Abdulqadir Gaylani, Abdelkader, Abdul Qadir, Abdul Khadir - Jilani, Jeelani, Jilali, Gailani, Gillani, Gilani, Al Gilani) or simply known as Ghaus-e-Azam (470–561 AH) (1077–1166 CE) was a Persian
Islamic preacher, Sufi sheikh
and the figurehead of the Qadiri Sufi tariqa, highly esteemed in Sufi orders. He was born on a Wednesday the 10th Rabi al-Thani in 470 AH, 1077 CE, in the Persian province of Mazandaran (Iran
) south of the Caspian Sea
.
ibn Abi Talib, and this on his father side so you can see why they call him al-Hassani due to his tracing up to Muhammad's grandson Hassan ibn Ali. On his mother side, she is the daughter of a saintly person Abdullah Sawmai who was a direct descendant of Imam Husain ibn Ali making the Shaykh also al-Husayni due to this.
Al-Gilani was born in 1078 CE (471 AH) in a small town of Iranian
Gilan Province. His ancestors were Syed
s who settled in Gilan (arabacized to Jilan) hence the epiphet of al-Jilani.
His complete name Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Jilani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini, Syed
denoting his honorific title of descendancy from the Islamic prophet Muhammad
, Muhiyudin his title for being known popularly as "the reviver of religion", al-Jilani denoting the region he hailed from although however he also had the epiphet al-Baghdadi. (denoting also the city of Baghdad
where he was now residing in and therefore also geographically recognised through, eventually being buried there), and al-Hasani wal-Hussaini affirming his lineal descent from both Syed Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain, the grandsons of Muhammad.
His father, Syed Abu Saleh Musa al-Hasani was a direct descendant of the Syed Imam Hasan
. He was an acknowledged saint of his day "..and was popularly known as Jangi Dost, because of his love for Jihad" Jangi dost thereby being his sobriquet
His mother Ummal Khair Fatima, daughter of Syed Abdullah Sawmai az-Zaid a descendant of Syed Imam Hussain through Imam Zain ul Abideen, he was known as a "great saint of his time and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Husain, the Great Martyr of Karbala
"
(1095), where he pursued the study of Hanbali law under several teachers. The Shaikh received lessons on Fiqh
from Abu Ali al-Mukharrimi, Hadith
from Abu-Bakar-bin-Muzaffar, and tafsir
from the renowned commentator, Abu Muhammad Jafar.
When he was on the way going to "Baghdad" with a large convoy (Qafila), a group of thieves attacked the convoy and took all of their precious belongings, one of the thieves came to him (Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani) and asked him "Boy, tell me what you have in your luggage". He replied "I have forty dinars." The thief searched all of his luggage and could not find the dinars. He then took the boy to his sardar (master) and told him that this boy (Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani) claims he has forty dinars, but after searching his belongings I could not find the dinars. The sardar (master) then asked, "Boy, do you lie?" He replied "No, I am not lying, the dinars were sewn by my mother on the inner side of my shirt." Then one of the thieves checked and found the money. The sardar then asked him. "Boy, you could have lied to us and could have saved your money, why you didn't lie?" Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani replied "Before I started my journey, my mother advised me to tell the truth even if someone tries to kill me as Allah frowns upon those who do not speak the truth." After listening to this the sardar began to cry, as this little boy had so much fear of Allah that he did not lie in such a situation. He felt guilt for all his wrongdoings and felt the fear of Allah so the sardar then gave back all of the looted things to their owners.
In Tasawwuf (the sciences of the heart), his spiritual instructor was Shaikh Abu'l-Khair Hammad bin Muslim al-Dabbas. From him, he received his basic training, and with his help he set out on a spiritual journey.
After completion of education, Abdul-Qadir Gilani abandoned the city of Baghdad, and spent twenty-five years as a wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq as a recluse.
in 1127, and began to preach in public. He moved into the school belonging to his old teacher al-Mukharrimii; there he engaged himself in teaching. Soon he became popular with his pupils. In the morning he taught hadith
and tafsir
, and in the afternoon held discourse on science of the hearts and the virtues of the Qur'an
.
He busied himself for forty years in the service of Islam from 521 to 561 AH
. During this period hundreds of thousands of people converted to Islam because of him and organized several teams to go abroad for dawah
purposes.
He was also the teacher of Ibn Qudamah
whom he also designated as a Caliph of his Sufi order. Ibn Qudamah also later fought as a general in Sultan Saladin
Ayyubi's army and conquered Jerusalem from the Christian dominance.
at the age of ninety one years (by the Islamic calendar
), and was entombed in a shrine within his Madrassa in Baghdad. His Shrine and Mosque are in what used to be the school he preached in, located in Babul-Sheikh, Resafa (East bank of the Tigris) in Baghdad
, Iraq. Worldwide the Sufi orders celebrate Ghouse-al-azham day on 11th al-thani closest to his birthday not his death-date for respect and elevation of their Shaykh which is 10th of Rabi at-Thani in the islamic calendar
Al-Gilani succeeded the spiritual chain of Junayd Baghdadi
. His contribution to thought in the Muslim world earned him the title Muhiyuddin (lit. "The reviver of the faith"), as he along with his students and associates laid the groundwork for the society which later produced stalwarts like Nur ad-Din
and Saladin
.
and Morocco
, and parts of the Horn of Africa
(Ethiopia
, Eritrea
, and Somalia
(a country that predominantly professes to the Qadiriyyah order only in the Sufi sect though small patches of Ahmed ibn Idris' order is found) ). In Somalia
the order is subdivided to Zaylaiyyah order and Uwaisiyyah order. Pakistan Sindh Hazrat Muhammad Shah Baghdadi Now There Tomb In Gambat District Khairpur'mirs And Hazrat Ahmed Shah Baghdadi Now There Tomb In Ranipur District Khairpur'mirs
Among the Sufis, who came to India from Baghdad, and who belonged to the family of Shaykh Abd-ul-Qadir Jilani Shah Badr Dewan whose real name was Hasan, and whose honorific title was Badr-ud-Din, is one of the top most Sufis. He stayed near Batala, and laid the foundation of Masania, a kind of inn in his times, but later populated by his children, grand children and great grand children, became a village of its own culture.
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
Islamic preacher, Sufi sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
and the figurehead of the Qadiri Sufi tariqa, highly esteemed in Sufi orders. He was born on a Wednesday the 10th Rabi al-Thani in 470 AH, 1077 CE, in the Persian province of Mazandaran (Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
) south of the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
.
Lineage and biography
Abdul-Qadir ibn Abi Salih Musa ibn Abdullah ibn Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Muhammad AbuBakr Dawud ibn Musa ibn Abdullah ibn Musa Jawni ibn Abdullah ibn Hassan al-Muthanna ibn Hassan ibn AliAli
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
ibn Abi Talib, and this on his father side so you can see why they call him al-Hassani due to his tracing up to Muhammad's grandson Hassan ibn Ali. On his mother side, she is the daughter of a saintly person Abdullah Sawmai who was a direct descendant of Imam Husain ibn Ali making the Shaykh also al-Husayni due to this.
Al-Gilani was born in 1078 CE (471 AH) in a small town of Iranian
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
Gilan Province. His ancestors were Syed
Syed
Syed is a masculine given name derived from the title Sayyid, it is not to be confused with the similar looking name Sayid...
s who settled in Gilan (arabacized to Jilan) hence the epiphet of al-Jilani.
His complete name Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Jilani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini, Syed
Syed
Syed is a masculine given name derived from the title Sayyid, it is not to be confused with the similar looking name Sayid...
denoting his honorific title of descendancy from the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, Muhiyudin his title for being known popularly as "the reviver of religion", al-Jilani denoting the region he hailed from although however he also had the epiphet al-Baghdadi. (denoting also the city of Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
where he was now residing in and therefore also geographically recognised through, eventually being buried there), and al-Hasani wal-Hussaini affirming his lineal descent from both Syed Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain, the grandsons of Muhammad.
His father, Syed Abu Saleh Musa al-Hasani was a direct descendant of the Syed Imam Hasan
Hasan ibn Ali
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib is an important figure in Islam, the son of Fatimah the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. Hasan is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa...
. He was an acknowledged saint of his day "..and was popularly known as Jangi Dost, because of his love for Jihad" Jangi dost thereby being his sobriquet
His mother Ummal Khair Fatima, daughter of Syed Abdullah Sawmai az-Zaid a descendant of Syed Imam Hussain through Imam Zain ul Abideen, he was known as a "great saint of his time and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Husain, the Great Martyr of Karbala
Karbala
Karbala is a city in Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an estimated population of 572,300 people ....
"
Education
He spent his early life in the town of his birth. At the age of eighteen he went to BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
(1095), where he pursued the study of Hanbali law under several teachers. The Shaikh received lessons on Fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
from Abu Ali al-Mukharrimi, Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
from Abu-Bakar-bin-Muzaffar, and tafsir
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...
from the renowned commentator, Abu Muhammad Jafar.
When he was on the way going to "Baghdad" with a large convoy (Qafila), a group of thieves attacked the convoy and took all of their precious belongings, one of the thieves came to him (Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani) and asked him "Boy, tell me what you have in your luggage". He replied "I have forty dinars." The thief searched all of his luggage and could not find the dinars. He then took the boy to his sardar (master) and told him that this boy (Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani) claims he has forty dinars, but after searching his belongings I could not find the dinars. The sardar (master) then asked, "Boy, do you lie?" He replied "No, I am not lying, the dinars were sewn by my mother on the inner side of my shirt." Then one of the thieves checked and found the money. The sardar then asked him. "Boy, you could have lied to us and could have saved your money, why you didn't lie?" Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani replied "Before I started my journey, my mother advised me to tell the truth even if someone tries to kill me as Allah frowns upon those who do not speak the truth." After listening to this the sardar began to cry, as this little boy had so much fear of Allah that he did not lie in such a situation. He felt guilt for all his wrongdoings and felt the fear of Allah so the sardar then gave back all of the looted things to their owners.
In Tasawwuf (the sciences of the heart), his spiritual instructor was Shaikh Abu'l-Khair Hammad bin Muslim al-Dabbas. From him, he received his basic training, and with his help he set out on a spiritual journey.
After completion of education, Abdul-Qadir Gilani abandoned the city of Baghdad, and spent twenty-five years as a wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq as a recluse.
Later life
He was over fifty years old by the time he returned to BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
in 1127, and began to preach in public. He moved into the school belonging to his old teacher al-Mukharrimii; there he engaged himself in teaching. Soon he became popular with his pupils. In the morning he taught hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
and tafsir
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...
, and in the afternoon held discourse on science of the hearts and the virtues of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
.
He busied himself for forty years in the service of Islam from 521 to 561 AH
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
. During this period hundreds of thousands of people converted to Islam because of him and organized several teams to go abroad for dawah
Dawah
Da‘wah or Dawah usually denotes the preaching of Islam. Da‘wah literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation", being the active participle of a verb meaning variously "to summon" or "to invite"...
purposes.
He was also the teacher of Ibn Qudamah
Ibn Qudamah
Imam Mawaffaq ad-Din Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi was a noted Islamic scholar of the Hanbali madhhab, author of many treatises of Hanbali jurisprudence and doctrine, including al-Mughni as well as Tahrim an-Nazar Imam Mawaffaq ad-Din Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (Arabic...
whom he also designated as a Caliph of his Sufi order. Ibn Qudamah also later fought as a general in Sultan Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
Ayyubi's army and conquered Jerusalem from the Christian dominance.
Death
The sheikh died on Saturday night 1166 (11 Rabi' sitani 561AH)at the age of ninety one years (by the Islamic calendar
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
), and was entombed in a shrine within his Madrassa in Baghdad. His Shrine and Mosque are in what used to be the school he preached in, located in Babul-Sheikh, Resafa (East bank of the Tigris) in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, Iraq. Worldwide the Sufi orders celebrate Ghouse-al-azham day on 11th al-thani closest to his birthday not his death-date for respect and elevation of their Shaykh which is 10th of Rabi at-Thani in the islamic calendar
Al-Gilani succeeded the spiritual chain of Junayd Baghdadi
Junayd Baghdadi
Junayd of Baghdad was one of the most famous of the early Persian Muslim mystics, or Sufis, of Islam and is a central figure in the golden chain of many Sufi orders. Junayd taught in Baghdad throughout his spiritual lifetime and was an important figure in the development of central Sufi doctrine...
. His contribution to thought in the Muslim world earned him the title Muhiyuddin (lit. "The reviver of the faith"), as he along with his students and associates laid the groundwork for the society which later produced stalwarts like Nur ad-Din
Nur ad-Din
Nur ad-Din , also known as Nur ed-Din or Nur al-Din , full name Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Imad ad-Din Zangi, was a member of the Turkish Zengid dynasty which ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire...
and Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
.
Family
The Shaikh had four virtuous wives and forty-nine children, twenty-seven sons and twenty-two daughters. The most famous of his sons are Shaikh Abdul-Wahab, Sheikh Abdul-Razzaq, Shaikh Abdul-Aziz, Shaikh Isa, Shaikh Musa, Sheikh Yahya, Sheikh Abdullah, Sheikh Muhammed and Sheikh Ibrahim. His sons and grandsons reached the Indian sub-continent throughout the years preaching Islam in his method (Arabic=Tareqa,طريقة). As they have reached the Western part of the Arab world of North AfricaNorth Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and parts of the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
(Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, and Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
(a country that predominantly professes to the Qadiriyyah order only in the Sufi sect though small patches of Ahmed ibn Idris' order is found) ). In Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
the order is subdivided to Zaylaiyyah order and Uwaisiyyah order. Pakistan Sindh Hazrat Muhammad Shah Baghdadi Now There Tomb In Gambat District Khairpur'mirs And Hazrat Ahmed Shah Baghdadi Now There Tomb In Ranipur District Khairpur'mirs
Among the Sufis, who came to India from Baghdad, and who belonged to the family of Shaykh Abd-ul-Qadir Jilani Shah Badr Dewan whose real name was Hasan, and whose honorific title was Badr-ud-Din, is one of the top most Sufis. He stayed near Batala, and laid the foundation of Masania, a kind of inn in his times, but later populated by his children, grand children and great grand children, became a village of its own culture.
Works
Some of Jilani's more well known works include:- Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion)
- Al-Fath ar-Rabbani (The Sublime Revelation)available for download (urdu)
- Malfuzat (Utterances)
- Futuh al-Ghaib (Revelations of the Unseen) available for download (urdu) (English)
- Jala' al-Khatir (The Removal of Care)
- Bahajja-Tul Asrar (Ground Secerets)
- Sir Al-Asrar (Secret of Secrets) Available for Purchase in English
External links
- 160 Names and Titles of 'Abdu-l Qadir al-Jilani
- Website dedicated to Shaikh Muhyi'din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani
- Dedicated to his lineage, life, works and progeny
- Website regarding Shaykh Abdul-Qadri al-Gilani and his descendants.
- Website dedicated to the Lovers & Followers of the Great Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
- A web site links related to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
- http://www.islam.co.za/abdalqadirjilani/default.htmhttp://www.al-baz.com/http://www.quranicstudies.com/listbook1.html Excerpts/Books by Abdul Qadir Jilani